French pro audio giant, L-Acoustics recently lifted the lid on its new LA7.16i amplified controller, which promises to deliver ‘a new breed of technology’. Jason Kelly, the company’s product and technology marketing engineer, tells Headliner what the new multi-channel controller says about L-Acoustics’ push into the installation market and why it is a product like no other…
What was the philosophy behind the launch of the LA7.16i?
For decades there has been a disconnect between the way amplifiers are designed and how they are used in the real world. Until now, the philosophy has been that every amplifier channel must deliver full power, continuously and simultaneously to all outputs, but this is rarely experienced in actual system deployments. This disconnect has meant that amplifier design has not evolved with the way modern loudspeaker systems are conceived and operated.
Additionally, an increasing number of applications require extended discrete processing capabilities and output counts, and classic four-channel products are not the most efficient approach in these scenarios. We needed to think differently, developing a higher density, multichannel approach, which complements how loudspeaker systems are being designed today. The LA7.16i is a new breed of intelligent amplified controller, that delivers high power and channel discretization, but with a lower cost-per-channel than could be achieved with a traditional four or eight channel solution.
What makes the product unique?
Several features combine to make LA7.16i a unique product. Its 16 x 16 architecture, 2RU form factor, and capacity to deliver 1300 W at eight ohms per channel make it the most compact, powerful, and high-density amplifier available. Combined with L-SMART, our unique power management technology, LA7.16i is an amplified controller designed for real-world applications.
What does the LA7.16i bring to the installation market?
Together with the technical feature set, LA7.16i also delivers direct benefits at the integration level. Its high-density design means fewer physical amplifiers are needed to drive the same sized loudspeaker system. This means less rack space, network hardware, and mains power distribution are needed… and less weight too. All these factors have a positive impact on the costs and the time it takes to install a system, but without compromising performance. And the efficiency of the LA7.16i also contributes to lower overall mains power consumption and thermal dissipation figures over the lifetime of the system, making it the greenest amplifier L-Acoustics has ever made.